Lost Sanctuary
by dijin
Summary: We all know how Hamnet left Regalia. We all know how he died. What we do not know is what happened in the intervening years, what exactly happened in that time?
1. Chapter 1

Hello there. Thank you for opening this story, despite the suckiness of my description, it really does get better I promise. Beforeyou begin to read I would like to thnk my beta Mareth for reading through it and GTOF AKA Saphira Lily for giving me the title. Now all I have to say is please read, review and enjoy.

Hamnet sat on his bond, Hestia, as she soared through the pitch-black caves

Hamnet sat on his bond, Hestia, as she soared through the pitch-black caves. He could see nothing but the swish of many pairs of wings behind him reassured him that the attack force of humans and fliers was with him.

His mother, Solovet had placed him I command of this force, to deprive the gnawers of the Garden of the Hesperides, which she said had foolishly been given away to the gnawers by one of the King Stephan's more misguided ancestors, the plan was fool-proof. They would attack without warning, drive off the gnawers and seize the garden. If the gnawers' resistance was too strong for them to defeat easily then his mother's backup plan would come into play. They would seize the dike and open the sluice gates, which would flood the plain. If forced to swim the gnawers would be unable to fight as effectively and would be defeated by the humans.

As he went over the plan in his head there was a flash of sparks as one of the soldiers nearest him in the formation, Mareth he thought, struck a flint, igniting one of the torches, taking their cue from Mareth the soldiers began to ignite their own torches. Hamnet felt nervousness begin to set in as he saw with his own eyes the size of his force. He had only seen in the light the force that set out from Regalia. Soldiers had joined them in the dark, from Tarsus, Troy, the Fount and a dozen smaller hamlets scattered throughout human territory.

He heard a shrill cry from ahead, in the Flier tongue, though he had probably only been able to hear about half of it. He heard his bond give a nervous cough.

"That is the signal", she said, "The scouts have killed the guards at the end of this tunnel." She was thankfully able to keep any nervousness out of her voice, which would have simply added to his own.

"Then let us go".

As he said this he drew his blade. Recognising the signal the soldiers nearest him drew their own blades, and those behind them those blades, the movement moving along the formation like a ripple on the Waterway. The bats picked up speed. A few people began attaching lumps of clay to their torches, so they could latch them onto the ceiling of the cave.

He saw the cave entrance ahead and Hestia dived through, followed b his immediate subordinates, Mareth on Andromeda and Darian on Castor.

The torches lit up the chamber with surprising speed, but with a start he realised the gnawers actually had their own lights near their caves, mainly in the form of luminous moss but there were one or two small fires, a luxury for rats, who had no need for light but had it to allow their full enjoyment of the Garden.

The Garden was as beautiful as he had been told, the great dike, the smell of fruit, the golden apples and trees, the trees! Few underlanders ever saw a tree in their life but there were dozens here.

There were startled squeaks from below as the gnawers, several of whom were playing with their pups, spotted their foes. Diving down past him a group of soldiers attacked the nearest group of rats. Surprisingly, instead of fleeing as they were expected to do so, for the safety of their pups, they snarled and attacked themselves. Two gnawers were killed but another jumped atop a flier a moment too slow in her descent. The Flier's bond had his throat clawed out and the Flier herself crashed to the ground due to the sudden change in weight on her back, where two more gnawers dispatched her at their leisure. He saw that now a portion of the gnawer's strength was now splitting away, gathering their pups whilst the greater force gathered to defend the Garden.

Seeing this he spoke to Hestia as she pulled out of the dive she'd been in, avoiding the now bloodthirsty group directly below, "Hestia, bring us up. Find Mareth".

Hestia made no sign that see had heard his words but she veered upwards now, giving a greater overall view of the fight. Hamnet could see the majority of his force had engaged already and were being matched blow for blow by the gnawer's. For every gnawer lying dead on the ground a Regalian had been cut from his mount or a flier was pulled to the ground. Hamnet finally found Mareth, his blade bared and blood-stained, although the small tear in Andromeda's wing and the cut on his leg showed they hadn't got off as cleanly has he'd have liked. He caught Mareth's eye and the other man nodded, speaking to his bond, who flew out of the group they'd been leading in another attack and towards Hamnet and Hestia.

"Has the Dike fallen?" Hamnet asked when Mareth had reached his side.

Mareth nodded "Andromeda received word from Erebus moments ago that Torean and his group had captured the Dike."

"Good", said Hamnet, "You know what to do then".

When Hamnet said this Mareth pulled a curved silver horn from his belt, raised it to his lips and blew a single, long, loud note.

Within a minute the effects that signal could be seen, the sluice gates opened and water flowed into the garden at about waist height. The gnawer's were surprised at this and almost the entire army dove down to take advantage of this, Hamnet among them, Hestia flying as fast as she could to catch up and be in the vanguard of the attack.

As Hamnet dispatched his first gnawer with a slice to the throat things seemed to slow down. His senses seemed slightly more attuned for a moment; he turned his head and looked at the dike. He saw Torean standing atop it with about ten soldiers. Torean had a banner someone had brought with them and was waving enthusiastically. And then the dike cracked apart.

Torean was swept up in a whirlwind of water, the wave now many times higher than it had been before. Within seconds dozens of Fliers and Gnawers and Humans were swept up. Hestia veered upwards, just avoiding the wall of water; the two fliers nearest her were less lucky and swept up in the current like rag-dolls.

He saw the water continue on It's path towards a series of caves away from the battle. His heart stopped, there were gnawer pups near the cave mouths. He felt ill, he begged for the wave to stop. He couldn't be responsible for killing babies.

But the waves continued on their relentless path, filling the caves to the brim. Now Hamnet actually was sick, throwing up his small breakfast into the water. He'd done terrible things in battle before, but now his order had caused the deaths of dozens of children. He lost all feeling and everything went black for what seemed like a second, but when he regained his senses everything was different. The water was calmer now and the Fliers now swooped over it, plucking Human, rat or bat from the water.

Hestia had been hovering over the water, unsure of what to do without Hamnet's input. He shook his head. "Go help them", he said groggily.

"All of them?" was Hestia's reply.

"Yes" said Hamnet, "we've committed enough crimes against the gnawer's today; I won't let them drown without trying to help." He shook his head again, attempting to banish the images of the gnawer pups drowning.

Hestia then swooped down to the water, using a claw to grasp a floundering Regalian by the leather straps holding his breastplate in place. She then flew upwards, depositing him on a rocky ledge.

It continued in this way for almost an hour. Fliers swooped down to pluck an Underlander, friend or foe, from the water, although the occasional gnawer was able to pull themselves out alone.

Hamnet scanned the water for the fiftieth time, finally spotting a pair of dazed gnawers. He directed Hestia towards them but when she approached they both started squeaking at them, English obviously failing them in their terror. They then both simultaneous tried to clamber onto Hestia, who shrieked in protest. Hamnet shouted at them to let go and called for another flier to help him but the gnawers didn't listen. They finally managed to jump up onto Hestia's back and she crumpled under the weight, falling into the depths with the two gnawers.

Hamnet shrieked in horror, not realised he was on the verge of being dragged down by one of the gnawers, who was grabbing onto his leg, desperately trying to avoid being pulled under. Hamnet was oblivious, he only scanned the water for a sign of his bond. _She can't be dead! She can't!"_

He began to feel the gnawer began to pull harder on his leg as Hestia and the other gnawer sank downwards. At the same time he felt a hand on his back and was suddenly pulled out of the water with one hard yank. He saw Mareth pulling him onto Andromeda.

As soon as he was on Andromeda he turned again and gazed into the water "HESTIA!" he shouted. He made to dive back in, _She has to be alive! She has to be!_

He was so fixated on looking for Hestia he didn't notice his friends fist impacting on his skull, so it was with a mix of anger and surprise that he drifted into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Hamnet awoke with a start. He was in a bed in a small room; he thought it might be inside the hospital in Regalia. He was covered in bandages that were wrapped around wounds he couldn't remember receiving. He was sore all over, the dull ache of slowly healing injury, not the sharp stabbing pain of new wounds. Still he couldn't for the life of him remember where he had been to gain them. And where is Hestia? Usually she'd be nearby if I was hurt.

Just then a figure appeared in the doorway, his eyes, still adjusting to their renewed use, struggled to identify the person, until she spoke.

"Hamnet, you are awake!"

"Susannah, is that you?"

"Yes brother, it is I". She turned away from him for a moment, shouting through the doorway, "Doctor, he has awakened". She turned back to him, "How are you feeling?"

"I ache", was his short reply. He paused, "Sister, where did I receive these wounds, was there a battle? And where is Hestia? Is she injured as well? How is…." He paused mid-sentence as he realised how shocked his sister looked.

"You mean you do not remember?" he tone was shocked.

"No, sister, what is it?" but before she could reply a Doctor he recognised as Leonid entered the room, immediately followed by his parents, Vikus and Solovet.

"Hamnet, you have awoken!" His father ran to him and embraced him, his mother stayed behind him, more reserved than her husband. Leonid, however, edged in between them.

"Vikus, could you please step away from the patient before I have to treat him for suffocation. I need to take a look at him". Vikus nodded and complied with the request of Regalia's chief doctor.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on", said Hamnet loudly. The looks he received were eerily similar to the one he had received from Susannah.

"Let me handle this" said Leonid, "he needs to have this news broken to him gently, he does not remember what has happened, but it will return in a flood if prompted."  
He turned to Hamnet, "Hamnet, you must promise me to remain calm when I tell you this".

"I will promise this", Hamnet replied slowly, what has happened? he thought, Why must I swear to be calm?

"Alright" said Leonid, his voice had changed, the business-like but warm tone he had had when he had entered the room was gone, the new tone was instead sympathetic and he spoke more slowly. "Listen to me carefully; you were in a battle, trying to take the Garden of the Hesperides. During that battle you gave the order to flood the Garden and the dike was opened. The dike crumbled under this torrent and a huge wave of water engulfed human, flier and gnawer alike. You gave an order to rescue anyone, friend or foe. However while rescuing a gnawer another tried to jump atop your bond. She was pulled under, but you were pulled out by Mareth, who knocked you out when you tried to jump into the water". He paused. "Hamnet, are you alright?"

But Hamnet didn't seem to understand. A strange look came over his face and in an instant he just crumpled over Vikus ran to him and helped him to sit up again but when he opened his mouth only gibberish came out. He looked upon all those gathered there with confusion, as if he believed them all strangers.

"What is to happen to him?" asked Judith. She was just back from a journey to meet the new heads of the city of Troy, a man and woman called Tybalt and Rosaline, with her husband, who had immediately left to speak with Queen Athena about the repercussions of recent events. Her voice radiated concern for he twin and her face seemed to be pleading for Leonid to find a way to help him. Oblivious, her young daughter, Luxa, sat in a corner playing with her dolls, making little noises of glee periodically.

"Well" said Leonid, "To be honest I have no idea. Such an occurrence has not happened in the entire history o Regalia, or at least, it has not happened within the time we have kept records."

"There must be something you can do." Solovet's tone showed that this was in no way a question.

"Well, um," Leonid was beginning to look flustered, he didn't want to be on the wrong side of the Regalian militaries head, "Well., right now all we can do is wait. The shock is unlikely to be permanent. It will wear off very soon. It has been three days since he awoke so I would guess tomorrow will be when he returns to his senses.

"You had best hope so", Solovet said icily, "or I shall..."

She never finished the sentence, "Mother", said Judith, "I hope you are not threatening our chief doctor, remember the Queen ranks higher in the hierarchy of Regalia than the commander of the military. Now, I am sure Doctor Leonid has patients to attend to, do you not."

"That I do your majesty", Leonid gave Judith a look of heartfelt gratitude and, glancing warily at her mother, almost jogged out of the room in his haste to leave.

_  
Water. Water flooded in everywhere. Hamnet was above the water. He could see Hestia in the water, calling to him for help. He struggled to go to her but someone held him back. He looked behind him and saw Mareth holding him by the straps of his armour. He begged his friend to let go, to help Hestia, to do something. But Mareth simply laughed. He watched helplessly as Hestia disappeared under the water, before feeling Mareth let go. He heard laughter as he plunged I to the water. He went under the water, not resisting, and saw corpses, hundreds of them. Some pups, some human, some flier and some gnawer. As water filled his lungs a thought shot across his mind._

I shall do no more harm.


	3. Chapter 3

Hamnet awoke from the dream, drenched in sweat. Although the sun and moon were no more than distant memories to the people of Regalia the concept of "night" remained, and he decided immediately that night had fallen on Regalia. The candle at his bedside had been blown out, the light coming through the doorway was dim, as if many of the lamps were extinguished, and there was no noise coming from outside the doorway, instead of the clatter of loud footsteps, the clink of medicine bottles hitting each other and the calls to move, medicate or release patients there was no noise.

The silence was deafening.

Alone with his thoughts in this silence Hamnet chose to think, finally, on his actions and, more importantly, what he would do. Different voices whispered through his mind, each with a shred of an idea, but two were louder and seemed more confident.

_What are we to do? _said one. _Hestia is gone, and we have caused so much harm!_

**We were right to do it,** said the other, **it was our duty to Regalia to...**

_To what? To murder pups? To lead friends and comrades to their deaths?_

**We have our duty to Regalia to fight! This is war, and sacrifice is always needed in war. Now we must focus on recovering, we must continue to fight and...**

_No!_ yelled the first voice, _we shall do no more harm._

**But we must stay!** Insisted the second voice, **if you will not fight then fine, but this is our home. Besides, we had to retake the, it was ours.**

_Why did we have to retake it? It was a gift given in times of peace. We had no right to do what we did. It is our fault they died; we gave the order to open the dike up! We will not fight; we will do no more harm! If we stay mother will have us lead the army again in no time, remember the dungeon, she will break us._

Before the other voice could retort it paused, and in this time Hamnet heard the whispers again, but instead of discordant ideas there was one uniform message ringing through his head.

_We shall do no harm._

And Hamnet decided.

He stood up out of the bed. Tiptoeing out of the room he immediately headed for his quarters. He went very carefully, wanting not to be seen, but he himself saw no one.

As he entered his quarters he immediately ran the chest at the bottom of his bed. The room was luxuriously furnished, in keeping with Hamnet's status, but now he wanted nothing more than to leave.

Inside the chest he found all he was looking for. There was his small knife for slicing bread and meat, his waterskin, his small map and the backpack containing his emergency rations of dried meat. He 

left the armour where it lay on his bed, it had obviously been mended but he knew that wherever he went he would have no need of it.

As he left the room he looked wistfully around, seeing it for the last time. As he did so he spotted a pair of swords. One was the one he had wielded in the battle of the garden, a plain but functional weapon. The other was his usual blade, a well-forged, finely balanced weapon with a golden hilt and a pair of great sapphires on it's pommel.

Without hesitation he stepped forward and grabbed the worn, unadorned blade. He felt a little "humph" of satisfaction from one of the voices and another whisper.

_Lest we forget._

He belted the blade on, hefted his pack and walked out of the room. He headed for one of the older, now abandoned wings of the palace. To the old nursery. As a child he had been dared to thrust his hand inside the mouth of the fearsome turtle statue in there by his friend Torean. He had grasped something inside and opened the door into the shell. It had been an early hour, with only the two of them present. It had been a little secret for them. Now Torean was dead, crushed by the onslaught of water at the garden.

_Another thing that is our responsibility. Do not forget._

"I shall not", he muttered to himself.

"I know you will not", came the reply from behind him.

Instinctually whirling about, hand on his blade he stopped to see little Nerissa step from the shadows.

"Nerissa, it is late, you should be in bed".

The girl spoke in a odd voice when she replied, "As should you, uncle. But I have a warning for you".

Whatever it was he had to leave quick but to quiet the girl he spoke calmly and said, "And that is Nerissa?"

"The fate of the Underland depends on this, in ten years time you will find yourself with a hisser and a halflander child, you must go to the arch of Tantalus, please swear to me you will go."

"Alright Nerissa, I will swear it". Satisfied, Nerissa turned and left the way she came.

Caught in this surreal little moment Hamnet decided simply to walk on. After all, he was unlikely to end up alive in ten years time, Nerissa had a wild imagination but it was not as if she could predict the future, right?


End file.
